here in one of these epistles tonight is some very encouraging verses, Titus chapter 2. And let's begin the reading in verse 11. And we'll read down through the end of this chapter, Titus 2, verse 11. And we'll read down through verse 15. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we are privileged to live in a land where we can worship freely. We're privileged to have a church where the word of God is king and where the music of the church is queen. We are privileged to have a church where Bible reading and prayer and discipleship and following the Lord are commendable. We're privileged here to meet in a church where those who want to obey God are commended and not criticized. I pray that tonight as we look in this passage of Scripture that the Spirit of God will take the words that are said these words that have already been read. And in some way, minister to the needs, the spiritual needs that exist in the men and the women, the young ladies and the young gentlemen, and even the children of this congregation. Would you minister to the pastor and the deacons and their wives and their families? Would you minister to the new believers and the seasoned believers. And would you help us tonight as we consider the things You give us in saving grace. May the power of the Lord be present tonight as it was in Luke 5 to heal, to help, to encourage, to build, to correct, to challenge whatever is needed in the heart. I pray the Spirit of God would accomplish that tonight through the Word of God. Amen. In these verses tonight, we find that Paul closes by saying to Titus, these things you should speak and exhort and rebuke. In other words, Titus, as a pastor, you have a job to do, and that job is to speak the truth and exhort people with the truth, and even rebuke people with the truth as the need arises. And he said this, let no man despise thee. And I think what he is saying there is, Titus, don't be concerned about whether somebody is going to like or dislike the message of God. I think it's important that we do not get into the pulpit and just be rude and calloused and run roughshod over the people of God. I don't think that that honors the Lord. I think that if you were to hold your finger here tonight and go with me to the book of 1 Peter 5, you might find there that Peter had a bit of good counsel for those who are preaching the Word of God. He says in chapter 5 of 1 Peter, verse 1, the elders which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory That shall be revealed, feed the flock of God, which is among you. Now notice how Peter classifies the command to feed the flock, God, which is among you. The first stipulation is taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly. The second stipulation, not for a filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. The third stipulation, and this is where I want to focus, neither is being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Paul told the Corinthians that he could bear them record that to spare them, he had not yet come to Corinth. And so tonight, I want to present to you something that may exhort you. It may speak to you. It may rebuke you. And I hope that I can do that with the authority of Christ. And I'm not going to be concerned with whether somebody will like or dislike the message. Notice, Paul didn't write, let no man despise the message. He said, let no man despise thee. And so I want to do my best tonight in the power of the Holy Spirit to give you some things about the wonderful provision of saving grace. I want you to think for a moment. We just sang that song. I heard an old, old story. How a Savior came from glory. How He gave His life on Calvary to what? To save a wretch like me. And when we have been saved for 10 years, and we've been saved for 20, and next week I have my 49th birthday in the Lord, if we are not careful, we kind of forget what that was really all about. And this saving grace that God sends to us, I want us to see it introduced here in verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. All men. I find it interesting that there are people in our day and age, and there have been people in all ages probably, who find it difficult that there is only one way to be saved. They find it difficult that the multitudes, indeed, the billions of people in the world who have not heard the name of Jesus, who do not know that Jesus existed, who do not have anyone to preach the Gospel to them reflecting the name of Jesus, they find it difficult to believe that people like that will die and go to hell. Well, look what the Bible says here. It says that The grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to the United States. Or the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared in the 21st century. No, the Bible tells us. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared. To all men. There is not a single person who will ever walk through the gates of this life and out into eternity who will be able to blame God and say, it's not my fault. You didn't let me know. You say, then what accounts for the large numbers of people that are not saved and not hearing the Gospel and not in a country like the United States where they could hear? And let's find our way tonight back to Romans 1. And let's examine this because I want you to understand that what the Lord is saying here is that the salvation that God offers is universal in its reach, and God has reached out to every generation, to every man, to every woman, to every nation. There is never going to be a man who will stand and blame God because he had no opportunity. Romans 1. Verse 19, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath showed it unto them. That's amazing. In God's creation, in God's putting man on this planet, in God's making man in His own image, He gave to man a conscience. He gave to man a mind and a will and a seat of emotion. God gave to man His own image. And God says here in this book of Romans that what could be known of God is manifest or demonstrated or shown where? In them. For God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things, verse 20, of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him, not as God, neither were thankful. but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise. They became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. What we have here in the book of Romans and what is indicated in Titus 2.11 is that there is a God in heaven who has made Himself known enough in creation for man to seek Him. Therefore, there is no excuse on the part of any man. I heard the story from evangelist Bill Rice. I did not hear him relate the story because he had a stroke just before I arrived on the campus of Tennessee Temple and so I heard the story relayed and I have seen that story in one of his books. The story of Bill Rice going to Africa And while he was there, the missionary that was hosting him said, Brother Rice, we have a village that we have never evangelized. And we would like to take you down there and we would like you to preach a salvation message. And he said, you've got to understand, this is a village of people that have never seen a white man. Never. They've never been reached. They've never been evangelized. And we want you to lay the foundation. We want you to preach the Gospel to them, because we'd like to see if somebody will be saved. He said, I'll interpret the message for you. Bill Rice and this missionary took the walk. They went to this village some way back in the bush, and people gathered around, and Bill Rice began preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the invitation, as the as the missionary interpreted his message and and interpreted the invitation to come, they waited and not one single person. Got off. The benches. To come forward. They extended the invitation again. They prayed, they waited, and nothing happened. And the missionary closed the service. And as Bill Rice and this missionary were walking back out of the village, a man stepped out onto the path ahead of them and said to the missionary, may I talk to you? And the missionary said, of course. And now it was the missionary's turn to interpret this man's message to the evangelists. And this man told a story about how as a little boy, as a little boy in this village, he would go to their devil worship services. He would go and listen to the dancing and the thumping of the music and the gyrating and the twisting and the turning of the natives and the screaming the outcries of the devils. He said, Mr. Missionary, I knew that couldn't be right. And he said, when everybody else was involved with that, he said, I would sneak out. He said, you see that tree right over there? He said, I would sneak out of the village and climb that tree and sit up in that tree and say, God, What they're doing isn't right. I'd like to know you someday. He said, I sat in that service tonight and I heard and I trusted this Jesus that you talked to. He said, I would come out here on nights when there were no worship services, where there was no sacrifice, when they weren't spreading the blood of an animal across the altars. I would come out here and I would say, God, I want to know You. How did that happen? And that is not an isolated story. Many, many missionaries have told stories like that. And what I want you to know is the grace of God that brings salvation. Has appeared to everybody. Everybody, it's universal. Now, it is your business and mine to communicate that message, and it is your business and mine to take that message and to explain it. But listen, nobody out there will ever blame God. for not showing himself to them. And that is the reason the apostles could boldly say, but neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The words of Peter, Acts 4.12. So it is universal in its reach. But I also want you to see that this wonderful salvation grace that we have is individual in its reach. And I want us to look tonight in the book of Romans again. We're in Romans one. Just go over to Romans chapter three, Romans chapter three, if you will. Verse twenty one. Romans 3 verse 21, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. Now notice this wording. Unto all and upon all them that believe. Unto all. That is what we just said. It is universal. But it is upon all them that believe. In other words, the message goes out to everybody. But it doesn't rest on those that don't believe. It rests upon those who do. Do you know who's saved tonight? Not the people who have the witness of God, not the people who have the witness of creation and reject it. Not the people who have the witness of creation and maybe seek it, but when they hear the gospel, they turn away from it. No, they are not the ones who are saved. You know who's saved? The ones who have the witness of creation, and they have the witness of God who has made them in His image, and they have a conscience, and they have a soul, and they have a spirit, and they're aware that there is someone to whom they will be accountable one day, and when they hear the gospel, they believe it. Did you see the wording? Verse 22, even the righteousness of God, how do we have it? Which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. unto all, and upon all them that believe." This exact same concept is found again in chapter 10. Romans 10 and verse 12, we find this same concept. A passage of Scripture that many of us who are in the business of attempting to reach lost sinners have used a passage of Scripture, Romans 10, We know here that the Bible says, in verse 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him Shall not be ashamed a citation from isaiah 20 say 28 16 Now notice verse 12 for there is no difference between the jew And the greek for the same lord over all is rich Unto all that call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord Shall be saved You see, here it is again, that God has extended it out, and God has made it available, and God has shown Himself, and the truth is that God is Lord over all, but the riches of His salvation, that's the context here, the riches of being saved are unto those who call upon Him, not those who reject Him. So yes, this marvelous saving grace that we speak about in the book of Titus, chapter 2, verse 11, is universal in its reach in that it goes out to all men of all generations, of all nations, of all languages, but it is individual in its reach in that it lodges in the hearts of those who believe. Interesting concept. There's a God in heaven who is so infinitely wise and I would add so infinitely intelligent. That he knows who will be saved and who won't. Now, don't let that ever be an excuse to not talk about the Lord. The fact that God knows who will be saved does not mean that you know who will be saved. The fact that God knows who won't be saved does not mean you know who won't be saved. The bottom line is. God knows where to send a missionary. And God knew where to send Bill Rice that night. Because there was somebody who was seeing the witness of creation, who was seeing the pagan sacrifices and knowing in his heart and allowing his heart to reject the lies. and open up to the truth. I grew up in a home where we never went to church. I never was inside a church building when I was a little kid. I grew up in northern Vermont. Everybody in my class was either dead Methodist or dead Catholic. And when I say dead, I mean dead religious Methodist or dead religious Catholic. They were actually Breathing but religiously they were dead They did not evangelize me they never talked to me about the Lord nobody ever invited me to church It just wasn't what you did in the Methodist Church or the Catholic Church. I Grew up not knowing anything about God When I was a junior in high school a New girl moved into town and we struck up a friendship And I found out to my horror that she thought I needed Jesus. And she was bold enough to tell me that. I wasn't terribly friendly about that subject at first. Because in our house, basically we were taught that people needed religion because they were mentally retarded. And when you are taught that from the time you're this big, it's hard to shake that off. And what happened in my heart at first was that I dug in my heels even more. But the more it seemed that I dug in my heels, the less sure I became of my atheism. And the more I began to open up. And I want to tell you something. Nobody forced me. And I didn't even know the Holy Spirit existed. I'd never heard of the Holy Spirit. That I can remember. But the fact that I hadn't heard about the Holy Spirit did not mean the Holy Spirit had not heard about me. And He was working on me. And to make a long story short, I went from being an outright humanistic evolutionary atheist through a gradual process all through my junior year and all through the summer months between my junior and senior year of school, while we're working on the farm baling hay and filling the silos and milking the cows night and morning and just doing what farm kids do, the Spirit of God was working in my heart. At some point in August of 1974, I was out on the northeast corner of our farm. We had what we called the 10-acre piece, because it was 10 acres, very original. And we had recently plowed it and reseeded it. And I was manuring it one morning, and I just shut the tractor off, shut everything off. And I just looked up. And I said, God, I don't know who you are, but I want to know who you are if you're there. that fall, I found out who He was. I trusted Christ on the 25th of October, 1974. Which is coming right up. But I want to tell you something. That's how God works in people. And I wonder tonight if it's possible that there is somebody in this room that God has been working on. A child. A teenager. A young adult. a middle-aged adult. I wonder. I don't know that. But I wonder if there's somebody in this audience tonight to whom God has been speaking, to whom God has been urging, someone that God has been pricking like He pricked the heart of Saul of Tarsus, someone who has been made aware time and again, you need to be saved. Tonight's the night, folks. Climb that tree like Zacchaeus did to see who Jesus is. Climb that tree like that native did who climbed down out of that tree and met the missionary and the evangelist walking back out of the village. When the invitation is given tonight, step out of your pew. Say, Mom, would you go with me? Dad, would you walk with me? Big sister, big brother, maybe you're concerned about one of your siblings. Well, you know what? During the invitation, find that sibling and say, hey, you know, we're praying for you. Is tonight the night? Because the salvation call is universal. But it is individual. In its benefits, and you must put your faith, he's rich. unto all that call upon Him. We must call upon Him to be saved. So there is this saving grace that brings salvation. I want you to see what else this grace does. This grace not only saves souls, but it teaches the saints. Look at the next verse. We'll start with verse 11 again. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. And to those that are already saved, to those that have been saved, this saving grace actually goes to work to teach you how to live your life. Once you're saved, the saving is done, and now the Lord goes to teaching. Now that same grace that has appeared to all men, that same grace that redeemed us from all iniquity, according to verse 14, begins to purify us and teach us. And I wonder tonight what you have learned from the Lord since you were saved. Remember what Jesus said to his disciples. He said, take my yoke upon you and what? Learn, what are the next two words? Of me. Learn of me. Let me be your teacher." And the indwelling Spirit sent by Jesus Christ is there and part of what He does along with sealing us and along with keeping us and along with strengthening us with might in the inner man and along with many other things. One of the things He does is guide us into truth. He teaches us things. And if you're listening, to the Word of God and asking the Spirit of God to open your mind to things, it's interesting what He'll teach you. And it all comes under two categories. First of all, what you should walk away from. And second of all, what you should embrace. Because do you realize that every belief system in the entire world involves accepting some things and rejecting others? Let me say that again. Every belief system in the entire world involves accepting some things and rejecting others. And when the Lord Jesus Christ comes into your heart in the person of the Spirit of God and takes up residence there and dwells there and begins your Christian life and you begin to walk with Him, I'm going to tell you that the first thing He's going to do is tell you what to get rid of. that you put off concerning the old man, concerning the former deeds, put it off, put off the old man, which is corrupt, the Bible says, according to the deceitful lust. And that's what he says, teaching us, verse 12, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. That he wants to purify, in verse 14, to himself a peculiar people. God wants to clean up your life. He wants to clean up my life. God is the God of cleansing. The devil. Is the God little G of filth? The devil is the God of filthy language. and filthy thinking, and filthy living. The devil is the god of that which is dirty, and defiled, and small, and nasty, and vile. That's who the devil is. And as you look around in this world, it is not hard to see vast portions of our population, even in this country. Walking according to the course. Of the God of this world. The language. Is dirty. The living. Is dirty. Even the love of this world is dirty. No, the Spirit of God will teach you to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. The Spirit of God will teach you that, you know what? Popularity is dangerous. It's a worldly lust to seek popularity. The seeking of money, riches, the love of money is the root of all evil. And the Spirit of God will teach you that. I didn't say money is evil. Money is not evil. It's the love of it that's evil. It's not wrong to have 20 friends. It is wrong to seek popularity to the point that you will compromise what God wants you to be and do. If you have to lower yourself to be a friend, If you have to use language that would not please the Lord, if you have to go places that would not please the Lord, if you have to dress in a sleazy and seductive way that would not please the Lord in order to have a friend, if you have to win somebody by dropping yourself down below what God says is right, you are in trouble. Right after I was saved, I asked one of the girls in the senior class if she'd like to go out to dinner one night. She said, sure. I said, do you have a place you'd like to go? And she said, yeah, I know a little place up in Hardwick and Hardwick is just a few miles from Plainfield where I live. So I picked her up and we got in the car and we drove up to Hardwick and we got out of the car. I've been saved just a few months. We got out of the car and we walked in. We got inside the door. Probably I was as far inside the door as it is from preacher to me. I looked up and I saw a wall lined with bottles. I said, Patty. I am not comfortable here. We're going somewhere else. Oh, OK. It was a bar that served food. Even back then, I wonder who told me that. Because there was no preacher with me. But there is a preacher with me. The Holy Spirit. And he's with you. And if you listen to him, you won't go places you shouldn't go. You will deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. You will not look for things that will take you down the wrong path. You will not succumb to the chanting and the allurements and the enticements and the nya-nya-nya-nya of this world. You will just say, no. Nancy Reagan, the wife of President Ronald Reagan, became quite well known for the famous saying, Just say no. And it was her anti-drug pitch back in the 80s. Nothing wrong with that. Amen. Nothing wrong with that. There is a time. To say no. And any person who seeks to violate you, any person who seeks to take advantage of you, any person who seeks to draw you down from what the Spirit of God... When somebody says, hey, let's go do this, you ought to be saying, Lord, is this what you want? You ought to be saying it beforehand. You ought to be saying every day, Lord, what do you want me to do today? Teach me, guide me, speak to me. And when somebody is trying to pull me in the wrong direction. Talk to me about that. Talk to me about that. It's not going to be an audible voice. It's a still small voice. You have to turn down the music a little bit. So you can hear the quiet voice of God. Amen. You know, you see, the spirit of God will teach us that denying ungodliness, there are things we need to reject. We need to reject the philosophies of the world. We need to reject evolution. Evolution is not just another opinion about origins. Evolution is a religion and it is absolutely devilish. There is no science in it. And by the way, there is no science in a lot of things that are being thrown at us today. There's just no science in a lot of it. People are telling us that we can choose our gender. There's no science in that. The people that told us to follow the science during the pandemic are telling us to ignore the science in this matter. And by the way, you cannot be a cat no matter how hard you try. Any more than a cat can be you. I heard of a high school principal who refused to give one of these girls that pretended to be a cat her high school diploma. He said, you failed high school. She said, what do you mean? He said, the school still has mice. We laugh. But if you're a cat, You better be catching mice and eating them raw. No, they're not cats. They're led astray. And there are extremes that we sit here and we say tonight, well, I would never believe such idiocy and nonsense. But we get caught up in the stuff that isn't quite that far off. And the Spirit of God has come and He has saved souls, but He doesn't stop with saving. He teaches us if we'll listen to Him. And He says, not only the things you deny and reject, but notice the things you embrace, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly. You know what it means to be sober in the Bible? You know what that word means? It means to be sober. Have your head about you. It means level-headedness. It is the opposite of drunkenness in our vernacular. Why? Because a person who's drunk is not level-headed. He's not thinking clearly. He's impaired. Whether he's driving or walking or whatever he's doing, he's impaired. Every decision he makes while he's under the influence of alcohol is an impaired decision. Sobriety has to do with possessing your faculties, keeping your head about you mentally and spiritually, by the way. That we should live soberly. Not impetuously, not just, hey, I'm going to do what I want. Hey, I feel like this. I feel like that. Don't follow your heart. That is following an evil counselor. And even though every Disney movie somewhere says, follow your heart, Remember, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. And if you're going to follow your heart, you are following a deceitful, desperately wicked counselor. And blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Nor standeth in the way of sinners. nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." There is a time in our lives when we need to be asking the Spirit of God to teach us how to live soberly and righteously in the Lord. The word righteously just means right versus wrong. And how has God opened up the Bible to us? And how has God shown us? And listen, there are things that God says are good and things that God says are bad. Take His word for it, amen? There are things that God says are right, and there are things that God says are wrong. Take His word for it. Amen. There are things that God says are wonderful and things that God says are terrible. So take His word for it and live righteously. Soberly, righteously and godly. The word godly is also the word piety. P-I-E-T-Y in our Bible. And the devil has taken that word and turned it into something that it did not originally mean. Oh, you're so pious means you're all stuck up and think wonderful about yourself. No, the word pious means godly. The word pious means godly. The word pious means you're patterning your life after Jesus Christ. After God Himself. that we should live soberly and righteously and godly when in this present world, that's not just for heaven. That's not well, you know, I'm going to live it up and I'm going to have me a good time. I'm going to do what I want to do and I'm going to go where I want to go and I'm going to do it with whoever I want to do it, however I want to do it. And I don't give a rip. And if the world does, if somebody doesn't like that, that's his problem. No. And when people tell me, you know, if God doesn't like me the way I am, that's His problem. I respond to them that God doesn't have any problems. Any problems are had on our part, not His part. soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. Notice what God says here, not just the sobriety and the righteousness and the godliness, but notice in verse 14, he wants to redeem us from all iniquity, which is what he did when he saved us and purify unto himself. A bunch of weirdos. That's what it says, a peculiar people. You know, some of us are afraid of that. We're not afraid of trusting the Savior who bled and died for us, but we fear mockery. Somebody will laugh at me if I dress modestly. Somebody will point at me and whisper about me if I don't show a little more skin. Somebody is going to ridicule me. They might even knock me down They might even hurt me. Jacob Gartenhouse was a full-blooded Orthodox Jew boy in New York City in the early 1900s. One day, he heard the message of the gospel, and he went into his bedroom and bowed his knees and cried out for His Messiah to save them. He got out of His bedroom. He went out into the streets. Now, He's just a boy, 12 years old. He goes out into the streets where His playmates are and He starts preaching to them. And He starts telling them, I found the Messiah! I found the Messiah! Yeshua, the promised Messiah! And He begins preaching Jesus to His playmates. And they beat him and bloodied him and knocked him down in the streets. And he went home and his parents said, what has happened to you? He didn't tell them. I got beaten up in the streets when they said, what has happened to you? He said, I found Yeshua. I found the Messiah. I trusted in him and I am saved now. And then they had their time with him. As the years passed, he would not deny his faith in Jesus Christ. His parents had a funeral for him and absolutely banished him from their lives. Jacob Garden House married a little tiny lady named Lillian, and they started the International Board of Jewish Missions, which is still a mission board today. I don't know much about their stand today. I knew much about it when we were in college because the headquarters were right near the college. And they traveled all over the world and one one heavy, heavy, heavy burden on the heart of Jacob Gartenhouse was to go. His parents moved back to Israel to go to Israel and find his parents and win them to Christ. He tried multiple times. When they would see him at the door, they would not open the door to him. He tried many, many times when his father was 90 years of age. His father finally opened the door to him. And he was able to bring his father to faith in Jesus Christ at the age of 90. That man paid a great price. To be a peculiar. Person. Zealous. Of good works. Some of us have paid a little bit. But none of us have paid what Jesus paid, and none of us have paid what Paul paid, and few of us have paid what any of the apostles paid. Thomas, I believe, was flayed for his faith. That means his skin was torn from his body because he would not deny Jesus Christ. John, the aged, was hurled into a cauldron of boiling oil. But he would not deny Jesus Christ. Peter was crucified upside down. Because he said he was not worthy to be crucified in the same position as his savior. The apostles paid for their faith. They didn't pay to have it. Jesus paid so they could have it. They paid. to guard it. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, that God might purify unto himself a peculiar people, people who are different, people who are markedly different, people who are obviously different, people who look different, talk different, act different, do different things, have a whole life that does not resemble the culture in which they live. A life that is not styled like the world. A life that is not conformed so that whatever the world does, we just chase after them. And when the world is immodest, well, Christians, if we're going to be relevant, we have to be immodest too. No, God never called us to be relevant. He called us to be reverent. And there's a huge difference in meaning, even though there's very little difference in spelling. God did not call us to be popular in the world that crucified Jesus Christ. God did not call us to make sure everybody in the world likes us and gives us a thumbs up on Facebook or Twitter or YouTube. God did not call us for that. God didn't call us to water down our audible message, the message that we speak. He did not call us to water down our visible message. And the visible message is what people see when they see you. I've said this all over the country. I am met with wide eyes and gasps as I say it. But God nowhere has given Christian parents the liberty to dress their children in colored underwear just because they happen to be near a large body of water. Where is our modesty today? God has nowhere given us a license that just because the girl cheerleaders run around in skirts that are so small that they would be short on a hummingbird, we do not need to pattern ourselves after that. You can play volleyball clothed. And if you can't, then just don't play volleyball. Don't copy the world. Don't let the world tell you what to do when God is seeking to purify to himself a peculiar people, an unusual group of people, people that don't fit in. Round holes, we are to be square pegs. We are not to be like this world. God is seeking, and I'll guarantee if you'll open up your Bible and let the Spirit of God teach you, you'll find what I've just said on almost every page of Scripture. You know what the priests were ordained to do? They were ordained to teach the difference between holy and profane. and between unclean and clean. And that's not just ceremonial. That's everything about us. I want you to see this evening that this wonderful salvation grace that we have is universally presented and individually received. I want you to see that this wonderful salvation grace teaches us there are things to reject in the world in which we live and things to embrace in the world in which we live. I want you to see, finally, there is great joy in the grace of God that brings salvation. Look at it in verse 13, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us. We're looking for him. We're not looking for the tribulation, folks. We're not looking for judgment. We aren't looking for wrath. We are delivered from wrath. We are not looking tonight for the horror of the seven years. No, we're looking for Jesus. We know that when we shall see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Listen, we're not told in the New Testament to look for half of the tribulation or look for two thirds of the tribulation or wait for this or that or the other. And we're not told in the Bible to look for anything other than the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. I am looking for Jesus to come. And I believe He's coming. I'm not looking for the end of the world. That is going to happen a thousand seven years after I leave this world to go to heaven. If I go up in what we call the rapture. If the Lord comes in my lifetime, the end of the world is not going to come for another thousand seven years. I'm not looking for the end of the world. I'm looking for Jesus. I'm looking for the bridegroom who is coming after his bride. I'm looking for the one who said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go again, if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself. That's what I'm looking for. And the grace of God that brought me salvation has guaranteed me. That I belong to him. And I am going to be in one of two groups on Resurrection Day. I will either be among the dead in Christ that rise first, or I will be among those that are alive and remain and will be caught up together with them in the clouds. And we will meet the Lord in the air, and from that moment on we shall forever be with the Lord. I do not set dates. because the Scripture very clearly says we don't know the day or the hour. I do not set dates and I don't spend a whole lot of time arguing about the things that haven't been said in the Bible. But I will say this, what has been said is that Jesus is coming again. What has been said is that when he comes and receives us to himself, whether we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, where we will fear no evil because his rod and staff will be there to comfort us. And he'll actually right in that valley of the shadow of death, prepare us a table before us in the presence of our enemies. And our cups will run over. Whether we go through the valley of the shadow of death or whether we're caught up to meet the Lord in the air makes little difference. I am confident that the day is coming when because I trusted Him on the 25th of October, 1974, I will see Him face to face. And there are many people in this room who are confident of that. You can look back and remember the time. Maybe you know the day on the calendar. Maybe you don't remember the exact date. You know it was in the summer of such a year, or it was at summer camp, but you can't remember if you were 13 or 14 or whatever. But you remember that you were born again. You remember that you trusted Christ. I want to tell you tonight, that God wants you to have a wonderful life down here, and that's why He teaches you to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, so you don't have to live with all the scars of wickedness and vileness and terrible living, and to live soberly and righteously and godly, and to be one of those peculiar people who is actually zealous for God! So you can stand before Him one day and not be ashamed before Him at His coming, but have confidence. I'm looking forward to that day. Not because I'm depressed. Woe is unto us. We have to live in this horrible world. No, every day that we live is an opportunity to serve. It's an opportunity to be zealous for God. That's that's what he says here. You know, I'm amazed at the people that are zealous. For a ball team. And stadiums are filled across this country every Sunday while churches languish empty. And churches close their doors. Our zeal in this country is so misplaced. We stay home on Sunday night because the game is on. There's a man named Thomas who stayed home on Sunday night. And for 2,000 years, he has been remembered as a faithless man, doubting Thomas. What a tragic testimony to have to the entire church age for 2,000 years. Because he had something more important to do on the very first Lord's Day. when Jesus had risen from the dead. There's nothing more important than God and his word and prayer and church. I remember when we were kids on the farm, we milked with a three-legged milking stool. I said, Dad, why don't we have a stool with four legs? He said, because they tip over more easily. Do you know that the three-point stool is the steadiest thing? Why do you think photographers use tripods for a camera? Why do you think hunters who are using these high-powered rifles and shooting 2,500 yards at a target that to the naked eye doesn't look any bigger than that. Why do they use a tripod? Because it's the steadiest. Support system known to man, the triangle is the strongest. Why do we have triangular trusses? Because that's the strongest thing in construction. You know, there is a three point stool that we need to sit on as God's children. Bible reading, prayer and church attendance. And I did learn something on the farm when one of the legs on that three legged stool breaks, you fall. You say, well, I read the Bible and go to church, but I don't pray. You've got a broken leg. Well, I pray and I I read the Bible. I'm just not one of these big church people. Yeah, we come out for the special meetings. You've got a broken leg. You read this passage tonight. Read it again and again. Read it over the next few weeks. And just ask the Lord, Lord, You said the grace that brought me my salvation is in me to teach me some things. What do You want to teach me, Lord? What do you want to teach me to embrace? What is there about the Christian life that I have not accepted and embraced? What do you want me to do? What do you want me to reject, Lord? What is it that you want me to deny? What part of the ungodliness and worldly lusts do you want me to put aside? What do you want me to do? How do you want me to be peculiar? In what way do you want me to stand out from the crowd, in my neighborhood, in my family, in my school, wherever you are amongst your peers. Lord, in my workplace, in my job, wherever. How do you want me to stand out, Lord? Because if you don't stand out, you'll never be outstanding for Jesus. Oh, you may be outstanding in the world. But if you're outstanding in the world, it's because you stand out for them. We need to be outstanding for him. And the only way to do that is to stand out dads and moms. What about your home? What about your family? The emphasis this week is family. What about your family? Where is the where is the I'm going to use the word where's the standard anymore? We go to a restaurant, we want a restaurant that has good food standards. You don't want your chicken sandwich to come out and the chicken was left at room temperature for four days and has fur on it. If you fly somewhere on business or for a vacation, you probably want an airline that has good safety standards. Because, you know, after they take off, I kind of want them to land gently. Not suddenly. In strange contortions. You know, it's interesting how we enroll our children on a sports team and we want a coach who will help our son or daughter be better. Why don't we want the Holy Spirit to make us better? Let's stand tonight.